Remy Giraud Character Analysis

Remy is a young Frenchwoman whom Elizabeth met at the Ravensbrück concentration camp. At the age of 22, Remy was imprisoned for stealing ration cards. She and Elizabeth soon became friends and Remy clung to Elizabeth's stories of Guernsey and the Literary Society. After the war, Remy writes to the Society to tell them of Elizabeth's death, as she wants Kit in particular to know how brave and kind her mother was. Remy's nurse, Sister Touviers, includes a note explaining that Remy is very ill and frail; she came to the hospital weighing only sixty pounds. Sister Touviers believes that Remy needs to move on and forget her time at the concentration camp. After receiving Remy's letter, Amelia and Dawsey visit Remy in France. They find that she's still very weak and thin and has a haunted look about her. Though she initially refuses their offer to host her on Guernsey, she eventually agrees to visit thanks to Dawsey's convincing. Remy slowly begins to open up on Guernsey; she starts to laugh and occasionally shares recollections of the camp or of Elizabeth with Juliet. She and Kit become very close, and it's clear to everyone that Remy feels very comfortable with Dawsey. This leads Juliet and Isola to believe that Remy and Dawsey are in love, and Juliet becomes quite jealous. Juliet feels horrible about her jealousy after an experience in which Remy experiences a violent panic attack at the sight of a German Shepherd; Dawsey later explains that the German guards used to let dogs attack prisoners for sport. This impresses upon Juliet that while Remy may look better, she's still recovering from the trauma of the camp and isn't well. Near the end of the novel, Remy decides to return to France to apprentice in a Paris bakery.